Jacob Markstrom of the Florida Panthers had a night he’d rather forget, quickly. He got the start in goal for Florida and gave up two goals in the first 3:10 of the Panthers’ game against Washington. Markstrom saw two shots. Two shots that go into the net quickly lead to a super-fast benching and a goals against average that sounds like a pants size.
Washington scored on four of its first eight shots in the first 8:10 of the game and crushed Florida 7-1.
SPIN: Well, the Panthers goaltenders have found a way to go from bad to worse to unbelievable. Skip the bench and waive them unless you are in a super-deep league. Ten different Capitals had at least a point in this field day of a game and Washington had seven different goal scorers. Alex Ovechkin, Mike Ribeiro and Wojtek Wolski each had a goal and two assists to pace the Capitals. Washington is hot as they’ve won 8 of their last 11 games.
Boston doubled up Toronto 4-2 behind a pair of Tyler Seguin goals. Patrice Bergeron had a goal and two assists and Brad Marchand chalked up two assists in the win. Nazem Kadri scored his 11th of the season for the Leafs in the loss.
SPIN: Kadri is hot right now with 11 points in his last seven games. He should be in your lineups and ride the streak he’s on. If not, grab him off the waiver wire. This is another game typical of what you should expect out of the Northeast Division for the rest of the regular season. They have four teams with a lot to play for and it will push all of them to be their best. As it is, the Northeast Division has four of the top six teams in the Eastern Conference. Marchand continues to pile up the points for Boston and is a must-start.
New Jersey knocked off Buffalo 3-2 in a shootout. Thomas Vanek and Brian Flynn scored for Buffalo. Adam Henrique and Patrick Elias scored in the final 6:30 of regulation to force overtime.
SPIN: This was the second oddball goaltending scenario of the night. Buffalo started backup goaltender Jhonas Enroth and gave Ryan Miller the night off…or so he thought. Enroth dealt with cramps for the entire third period and had to be replaced by Miller after allowing the tying goal. Miller looked awful in the shootout and the Devils broke a six-game skid. It goes to show that without Miller, the Sabres are potentially in deep trouble. Henrique has three goals in his last four games and should be getting started on your team. The Devils will be without Martin Brodeur at least for through the weekend. And while Brodeur has been on IR with a sore back, New Jersey has also been suffering too.
Rick Nash had a goal and an assist as the Rangers bumped off the Islanders 2-1 in overtime. Marian Gaborik had the game-winner 42 seconds into overtime. Michael Grabner scored his 10th goal of the season in the loss.
SPIN: Nash continues to heat up with three goals in his last two games. And yes, they all keep coming in the third period. The Islanders continue to falter as a team but the usual suspects are coming through for the team. If it’s not a star in the island, they’re not worth putting in your starting lineup.
The Penguins edged the Flyers 5-4 with Chris Kunitz’s second goal of the game being the winner. Jakub Voracek had a pair of goals in the first period as Philly built a 4-1 lead after 20 minutes.
SPIN: The Penguins scored four unanswered goals to roar back and get this win. Pascal Dupuis scored and James Neal picked up his 15th goal of the season in the rally. Kimmo Timonen had a goal and two assists for the Flyers and continues to be a Flyer with value on the blue line. Pittsburgh should be used as you see fit.
Montreal doubled up Carolina 4-2. Carey Price made 41 saves for Montreal and Lars Eller had a goal and two assists to pace Montreal. PK Subban had a goal and an assist in the win.
SPIN: Justin Peters continues to get the starts in goal with Cam Ward out for the remainder of the season so he’s worth a look in deeper leagues.
Columbus downed Vancouver 2-1 in overtime on Matt Calvert’s goal in the final minute of the extra period. Daniel Sedin scored for Vancouver.
SPIN: Kevin Bieksa missed a third straight game on the blue line for the Canucks. RJ Umberger had the other goal for Columbus but the Blue Jackets aren’t relevant in fantasy. Vancouver has lost 5 of its last 6. These two teams go at it again Tuesday.
Winnipeg edged Tampa Bay 2-1 behind 28 saves from Al Montoya. Steven Stamkos scored the lone Tampa goal while Bryan Little had the game-winner for the Jets.
SPIN: Tampa’s offense has been inconsistent since its hot start to the season. Vincent Lecavalier hasn’t scored in nine games for the Lightning. Tampa went 0-for-5 on the power play and has gone three games without a power play goal. Evander Kane had a game-high nine shots on goal in this one for the Jets.
Detroit blanked Edmonton 3-0 as Jimmy Howard turned in a 22-save shutout. Nine different players registered points for Detroit. Devan Dubnyk stopped 25 of 27 shots but got no offensive support in this one. And that sums this game up.
Dallas knocked off Los Angeles 5-2 behind a pair of Jaromir Jagr goals. Jeff Carter got his 16th goal of the season in the loss. Dallas scored three goals in the third period to break a 2-2 tie.
SPIN: Carter is racing up the charts in terms of value. He screams sell-high candidate and if you have him, try to unload him now and get something better in return.
St. Louis doubled up Phoenix 6-3. Patrick Berglund had two goals while Chris Stewart had a goal and two assists. David Perron had a career-best four assists.
SPIN: Mike Smith continues to get pelted in goal for Phoenix having allowed four or more goals in five of his last six starts for Phoenix.
Multiple Goal Scorers
Berglund-STL, Seguin-BOS, Kunitz-PIT, Voracek-PHI, Jagr-DAL
Stat of the Night
Markstrom’s yanking was the quickest non-injury-related hook since Kevin Poulin of the Islanders got pulled 1:35 into a game against Ottawa last season. Poulin allowed two goals but also made three saves before being sent to the showers.
Three Stars of the Night
1 The Washington Capitals
2 Voracek
3 Perron
Friday’s Games (all times ET)
Ottawa at NY Rangers 7pm
Winnipeg at Florida 730pm
Edmonton at Nashville 8pm
Chicago at Colorado 9pm
Calgary at Anaheim 1030pm
